Sonic Legends
by Mazz84
Summary: A lost princess, a magic KEY and Sonic the Hedgehog. What more could you want.Crummy summary until I think of a better one. Enjoy and R and R if you want.
1. Prologue

Back after a break for New Year.

Enjoy and please R and R if you want to.

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Sonic Legends—Sonic and the Anarchy Key.

**Prologue.**

The Manor house was on fire!

Sonic staggered in the smoke-filled hallway, the strong fumes made his eyes water and his throat burn. Gagging, the hedgehog fell to his knees, covering his mouth.

_Hope everyone got out OK._

A flicker of movement caught his eye. Groaning, Sonic got his feet once more and, at a steady jog, headed further down the corridor. He rounded the corner and ducked as a leather-clad fist lashed out.

_Geez! Only I could've dodged that._

He span, hoping to land a punch of his own, but was blocked by the black clothed intruder. Attack after attack was unsuccessful. He panted, the smoke hurting his eyes even more, and wiped the sweat from his brow with the back of his hand.

" Who are you?" He asked, his voice muffled by the roaring fires. The intruder just grinned and raced towards him at lighting speeds. A black hand wrapped around his neck, his back slammed into the wall behind, causing the ceiling to rain down on both of them. " Answer me! Who are you?"

The fires blazed and he caught the blood red of--he had to blink —_her _hair, the purple-ness of lilac fur and a body hardly covered by the revealing outfit she wore. Her turquoise eyes glinted in the firelight, and she backed away, slowly.

Sonic saw the faintest flicker of emotion cross her face, and before he could stop her, found his face in her hands and rough lips against his own in a kiss filled with angry passion and something else he couldn't quite put his finger on. He tried to wiggle free, he did, but she held onto him so tightly against her he could breathe.

When she did let him go, she kneaded him in the stomach and slammed her fists into his back, causing him to double over in pain. He fell onto his face, dust shooting up his nose and eyes, blinding him once again. When he managed to muster enough strength to lift his head, he found her walking calmly backwards, a small device in her hand.

Something, that looked suspiciously like a detonator!

" No. Wait!"

She pressed the switch! Somewhere in the lower levels of the Manor, a big boom rocked the foundations to their core. Sonic yelled and covered his head, partly to stop any more ceiling dropping on him, but mostly to keep his quills stream-lined. The intruder stood her ground; the shock-wave from the explosion just messed up her hair a bit.

The doppelganger of the princess threw the device into the fires and vanished into the blackening smoke. Sonic dropped his hands, watched her go, and licked his lips before realising what he was doing and spat on the floor in disgust.

_Things have just gotten complicated._

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**WTF?**

**Stay tuned to find out more.**


	2. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer, Don't own Sonic, he belongs to Sega.**

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Chapter One.

**Sometime in the future—Above New Mobius.**

The stars twinkled in the blackness of space. There was one that blinked brighter than the rest, brighter than any sun.

A ball of gold screamed its way across the dark void at unbelievable speeds. As the glow dimmed a little, a yellow hedgehog could just be made out, holding a purple hedgehoglette in his arms. King Sonic and Princess Aleena were on their way to stop their archenemy—Doctor Robotnik, again.

" When I said,_ a father/ daughter outing_, I didn't mean this!" Sonic adjusted his hold on his baby. " If your mum was still alive, she'd kill me." He muttered under his breath. " I miss Shadow."

" Well she isn't and Uncle Shadow isn't here to help you this time. It's just me, so there!" She stuck out her tongue. Looking at the protective shield around them, she reached out a hand and gently stroked its surface. " So shiny, and this is coming from me? Really?"

" Really, really. You've just started your training, so you can't tap into the Chaos Force fully, only enough to shield your self."

She sighed deeply, " Will I ever be able to become Super like you?"

He nuzzled her cheek with fatherly affection, " Maybe one day, Na-na." He looked around, eyes narrowing, " Well this is odd. I haven't seen a single robot, where do you think Lard-belly is hiding?"

Aleena pushed her fringe from her eyes and pointed to somewhere in the distance.

" How about over there, in a big ship with cannons sticking out of it?"

He smiled, " Speed, brains and good looks. I know you'll be a great leader one day. Now, let's do it to it, Princess."

Aleena returned his grin and nodded." Lets!"

Robotnik was waiting for them in his main laboratory. The Doctor calmly hit a button to open the door and let the two royals in. Sonic was now back to his old blue self, his Chaos powers finally depleted, Aleena was right behind him. She followed her dad's lead, right down to the same stance- one hip cocked and arms folded.

" Your Majesties." He gave them a bow.

" We're not here for pleasantries, Doc. Just give back the Anarchy Key and we'll leave you alone until the next time you muck up."

"Is that it? That's the great treat from King Sonic? I'm disappointed and no, I won't hand the Key back, not until I've finished with it."

Aleena was confused, " Daddy, what's an _Auntie_ Key?"

Sonic growled, " An ancient tool of great power entrusted to the our ancestors many years ago. It was hidden and thought lost in the great earthquake before you were born, but just last month I got reports that the tombs of royals past had been raided by this jerk. Now hand them over, if you know what's good for you."

" Afraid I can't, King. I'm on a tight schedule and cannot miss this window. Excuse me,"

" Oh no you don't!" Sonic jumped and launched a super spin at the Doctor. He got half way before he was stop by something fast and purple. As he landed with a bump, he thought it was Aleena, but when he checked on her, she was standing in the doorway. He looked up and his mouth dropped opened. " What the hell? What is that? Another robot?"

" My name is Ruby." The leather cladded female pouted a little bit. " You of all people should know that. _Daddy_."

" Daddy?"

Robotnik giggled, "Oh this is rich! You see, Sonic, The Key has already been used. Darling Ruby here stumbled into this world by accident and her Key got destroyed because it wasn't the real one. I, at first, thought she was Aleena but the attitude was all wrong. When I told her of my plan, she wanted in straight away." He smiled, " Using the Key, I will tear down the walls between worlds causing havoc and destruction, and on their ruins the world of Robotnik shall begin, with me as ruler! Did you fix it, my dear?" He asked.

For an answer, Ruby produce a crudely designed sword. It was very old, and if one looked closely, was made up of seven parts. The end was rounded like the twin moons outside the ship. As Sonic looked at it, he felt a strange pull, he looked over at Aleena, and saw that she too was feeling its effect. The evil Princess pointed the sword to the end of the room where a large stone ring stood, the end of the Key shot out a thin beam of white light that hit it in its centre. There came a loud unlocking sound and the middle opened up to reveal a blue and green vortex.

" The Void! Aleena move. _**Agh**_!" Sonic had made a move to shove Aleena out the way but was stopped by Robotnik, who had lassoed him with a sliver laser rope, pinning his arms to his sides. " Aleena!"

" I can stop her, daddy. I know I can." Aleena raced towards her double with all the speed she could muster. But Ruby was ready; she lashed out and grabbed Aleena by her hair, yanking her to her knees, Ruby stood before her in all her bad ness, sword in hand.

" Well, look at you. A right little daddy's girl." She frowned, " Makes me sick. You know," She leaned in closer, "It was boring conquering my world on my own. You could come with me to this new world; we could do this job together, bring it to its knees. We'll be like sisters, it could be fun. What do you say?" She held out a hand. "Well?"

"What would your dad say if he knew you were siding with Robotnik? What about your family? Why don't you go back home, be a good ruler, make your dad proud of you. You don't have to be evil."

Ruby smiled softly, " Child, that it the biggest load of crap I've ever heard. And for your information, sweetheart. My daddy was proud of me and loved me with all his heart. In fact," Her smile grew to one of sickening madness. " He loved me so much, he would love me once or twice a month, maybe even three times depending on his mood."

Aleena looked sick, " What do you…? You mean… That's disgusting! _**My**_ daddy would never do that!"

" No, yours wouldn't, but mine did. It's the way things were in my world."

King Sonic had just noticed something." You're speaking in past tense. What happened to your version of me?"

Ruby leaned in close to Aleena and whispered," You know I said I conquered my world in a mere matter of days, guess how I did it." Her grin grew more twisted. " Daddy go BOOM!" She raised the sword above her head; her blue eyes glinted dangerously, " And, now, _Princess_," Aleena own green eyes widened, waiting for her to strike.

"Look out!" Called Sonic.

The tip of the sword drifted into the blueness of the portal; there came a deafening, thunderous rumble that knocked the bad princess off her feet. Ruby clawed at the floor, trying to find a good handhold at a desperate attempt to save her self. Aleena was behind, doing the same thing. Sonic struggled with his bonds to get free; Robotnik just dived behind a nearby desk, saving his own arse.

Ruby looked over her shoulder, then at Robotnik. The mad Doctor just nodded once and she smiled. Counting to three, Ruby let go of the floor, she smacked into Aleena, who screamed as she tumbled into the portal. Ruby span, pointed the sword at its entrance and shouted just two words before, both were sucked in.

"Chaos Control!"

The room was filled with bright, white light. Everything electrical crackled and sparkled. There came a flash, another boom and then…silence.

King Sonic stared at the empty space; he then slowly fell to his knees, eyes welling. " No… Aleena!!"

Robotnik's face split into a wide grin. "Oh yes! The age of Robotnik starts now!" He had just enough time to see a blur of blue, before he saw stars and felt the cold steel floor beneath him. " I forgot, the power's out."

" Where is my daughter?"

He grunted painfully, "There's only one world in alignment at the moment. **Terra Firma** **Prime**. The Key has spilt into seven pieces now its been used. If Ruby can't find the sections of the Key in a weeks time, she's stuck there along with my hopes of building my empire…"

"What do you mean? What about Aleena?"

" Same problem… Only one of royal blood can restore what I've done today. It's a real battle royale. Uugghh…" Robotnik collapsed in a heap of blubber.

Sonic looked at the dead, stone ring and crossed his fingers. " Good luck, Na-na. Guess you're going to be super after all."

The sky was clear and quiet above the planet; well it was, until a colossal explosion sent nine balls of light hurtling in different directions towards the ground. One made a bumpy crash landing in the middle of a meadow of flowers, smoke and dust went everywhere.

Aleena blinked the dust from her eyes, she lay in the centre of the crater she'd made and stared at the sky. Her body was bloodied and bruised, her lovely copper locks splayed out behind her, and her clothing tore and burnt.

She sniffed, and then tears rolled down her cheeks to the ground under her. Torn in two, she was happy she was still alive after a fall like that, but she realised she was alone and lost on a strange world with no hope of getting back to New Mobius.

She needed help.

If she was in a different world like Ruby said, like home but different in small ways, then she needed a speedy hedgehog answering to the name of Sonic. But the question was; Where was he?

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	3. Chapter 2

**Ah, the joys of Fan fiction and Multiverses.**

**I can have Sonic as king, evil twins running around, and (hopefully not giving too much away) A good Robotnik. **

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Chapter 2. 

Station Square—Next afternoon…

Nothing could spoil Sonic's mood, the blue hedgehog hefted a large bag loaded with all his favourite snacks, and of course, the main ingredients to make a hedgehog's best friend—Chillidogs, into a better position in his arms.

" Yup. Nothing can spoil today." He beamed. " I got the snacks, the games station and with Amy safe on holiday and out of harms' way, I got the apartment. YEAH!"

" Hey blue-boy, keep it down, yeah? Some of us got hangovers this morning."

He grinned sheepishly, " Sorry."

" I think it's a disgrace!"

A blue ear pricked up, Sonic sneaked his way over to where a group pf people were huddled in front of the TV repair shop. An old lady and her husband were pointing at the only working TV.

" I think it's a disgrace." She went again." Wearing such revealing clothes, it's an outrage!"

Sonic raised his hand, knowing full well he was about to get a rollocking. " Uh…"

"There he is!" The old lady poked his chest with her umbrella, hard. " You should talk to that pink girlfriend of yours. I know you teenagers nowadays go through a rebellious stage, but—well just look!" She jabbed at the window with one hand and shoved his face into the glass with the other " Well?"

_Well what?_He wanted to tell her, but kept his mouth shut. Squinting at the screen, he could just make out the News report. A piece of footage caught on CCTV outside an electrical shop two cities over, was played on a loop. He watched as the door blew open, the alarms started blaring and a lone figure walk out, arms full of all sorts of gizmos. The picture was too fuzzy to get a clear I.D, but it was female in a black outfit with blood-red hair. The girl looked up, spotted the camera and then, just disappeared! The screen went all snowy with static before the footage started playing again.

The hedgehog pushed himself away from the window and turned to the small group. " That wasn't Amy. I know for a fact it isn't."

"Really? Prove it then." Challenged the old bat.

Sonic sighed, "Have it your way then." He placed his bag on the floor, between his feet and fished out his phone. After punching in her number, he waited four rings and then held out the phone to the woman. " Here you go."

" Hello?"

" _You're not Sonic. Have you stolen his phone?"_

" Hey, Amy!" Called the hedgehog over the women's shoulder with a grin.

"Miss Rose, I'm going to be blunt and straight to the point,"

" _Good, because I have a mud bath in 20 minutes and I don't want to be late. Go on."_

She coughed, " Miss Rose, where were you last night?"

Amy hesitated. _" Uh, I was here at the resort, watching the late night movie."_

" You're sure?"

" _Yes. I was here all night."_

The lady made a quick apology and handed Sonic back his phone. " Sorry, Sonic."

"It's OK." He patted her arm and lifted the bag once more. " And don't worry, if something creepy is going on you can count on me to stop it. See ya!" Sonic revved up and disappeared into the crowds, leaving a dust trail in his wake. On the way home his quills sang, Sonic fished out his phone again and rested it against his shoulder. " Blue."

" _Hey, it's me. What was all that about?" _He quickly told her about the robbery and the weird chick in black. _" Do you want me to come home? To help out and stuff?"_

"What? No way! You deserve this break, Ames and don't worry about the flat, I got it covered."

"_So, will you be dropping by again later?"_

He grinned cheekily. " Maybe. Depends on the film."

_"Ok, I'll see you later—"_ The phone suddenly cut out.

"Amy? Amy?" The hedgehog winced as static filled his ears, making him drop the phone, " Hate these things!" Taking care not to drop his bag of goodies, Sonic crouched and then suddenly stopped. Looking up, he saw a figure in a long gown and a head shawl further down the street. Something was odd though, the figure seemed to be shifting in and out of existence, like some sort of ghost. He blinked, and then slowly started to walk towards them. " I know you…"

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**Main Highway leading to Station Square.**

" Shh, Aleena, you're safe now."

The princess opened her eyes tiredly. She looked up at her saviour and found red eyes staring back at her. She blinked and started crying, huddling deeper into the white patch of fur like she used to as a baby.

" I knew you'd find me," she sniffed softly. " Uncle Shadow."

Shadow the Hedgehog smiled down at his adoptive niece warmly and adjusted his hold before continuing his walk. " I wasn't alone."

"Daddy?"

He shook his head. " We can't reach him at the moment, but we will. And then you can explain everything, including this—" He held up a broken shard made from red stone. Aleena's eyes widened as she reached for it.

" Where--?"

" We found it in an old mining town not far from here. Thought it was a Chaos Emerald, the signature's slightly off, but we've corrected it now."

"_ We_?"

" Shadow! Shadow, over here!" A young lady with curly brown hair waved at them. She was standing by the side of a long jeep bearing the logo—_G Robotnik Inc._—She lowered the back and helped Shadow load Aleena onto one of the cots inside. Once they were all in, she banged on the side, shouting, " Go!"

Along the bumpy dirt track, Aleena hissed as Shadow applied healing cream to her burns and wrapping them in bandages. Her eyes never strayed from the shard sitting next to the strange lady with the same name as her enemy. Her eyes met the others and they narrowed in warning.

" Allow me to introduce myself, princess. My name is Glory Robotnik; I'm the only descent member of our family left. I come from my late cousins side, Maria? Maybe Shadow mentioned her when he was with you? I'm a good egg and I'm here to help."

"Pick up the shard, then we'll see."

Glory blinked before touching the stone dagger. It glowed to life in her hands; she looked over at Aleena, who smiled slightly, nodding.

" You're a good egg. It wouldn't have activated other wise. Now, can you help me gather the rest before something really bad happens?"

Shadow sat at her side, " How bad are we talking about?"

She swallowed, " I'd say _End of multiverse as we know it_bad. If, and I'm guessing there's a bad Robotnik here," Glory nodded with a strained sigh," If he gets the other shards and makes the Key, he could destroy us all and rule over the mulitverse." She shuddered, " I need the fastest feet on the planet, can you help?"

Glory already had out her phone, she grinned. " Leave it to me, princess."

---

**Somewhere dark, dank and just unpleasant.**

"You come to me, in my home, for this?" Eggman held up a shard made from blue stone.

"Yes, my lord."

"Why did you call me that?"

Ruby, from the Anti-verse, bowed gracefully before him. " My lord, Robotnik. I come to you to propose.. A pairing."

He sat back in his chair. "I'm listening."

She smiled, showing her fangs. " This shard, and many more like it, is part of a powerful artifact that contains great power. Power to break down the barriers between worlds for an easy invasion." She placed a homemade scanner on the table, " Unfortunately, my scanner is not powerful enough to find the rest, with your great mind, surely you can build something to help me..I mean, us."

"If I help you, what's in it for me?"

" Complete control of all universes, and an empire in your name at last." She held out a black-gloved hand. "Do we have a deal?"

He reached over, and then abruptly pulled back, " What about that goodie-two shoes, Sonic the Hedgehog?"

Ruby's chest tightened. "There's a Sonic here too?"

"Yes there's a bloody Sonic here too! He'll mess up my plans like always."

Her eyes flickered dangerously. " He won't. I'll take care of Sonic, while you find the rest of the shards. Now, deal?" Her hand flexed.

Eggman grinned deviously and clasped her hand in one of his pudgy ones in a firm handshake. " You got yourself a deal, sweetheart."

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**If there any mistakes, sorry! I'm checking with a fine toothed comb, but sometimes miss.**

**(S**cores so far—Aleena, one. Ruby one.)

**More soon.**


	4. Chapter 3

**Oh. My. God!**

**I'm getting ahead of myself, but…. I've drafted the last chapter and I cried!**

**It's so sad!**

**Anyway, enjoy number three.**

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Chapter 3. 

Sonic sat on the pebbled beach, the winds gently ruffling his quills. Beside him sat the figure he'd met moments before, her headscarf dancing as she looked to sea. He sat in silence for a good ten minutes before huffing. His lady friend turned, eyes full of worry.

"I... Don't believe it."

" I know, and I don't blame you,"

He blinked. " Me? How's this mess _MY_ fault?" She shrugged and then he got it, " Not me, King Sonic. From last time? Right?"

A nod. "Yes. When my husband returned home last time, he forgot to put up the shields. Somehow that mistake has caused the balance between dimensions to weaken and because of that an evil double of our princess has travelled across the dimensions to seek havoc on all worlds using your Eggmans' brains to gather a Key that could- in theory-, destroy everything."

Sonic nodded, "OK. Evil double, magic weapon, bad Doctor and the whole of creation is in danger." He grinned. " Just a normal day, really." His grin turned into a frown," Hang on. How do you know so much about it? I mean no offence Queenie, but you're dead."

"Yes, I know that."

"Oh," He shrugged. "Just checking." He grinned at her, which she returned. " So, anyway…"

"I've journeyed the Ghosts Roads, The Lost Realms, Betwixt Twilight's, also known as The Void, to get here and to find you. To tell you,"

"Tell me what? "

She grunted as if she was in pain. " Not just the evil double got pulled through. She's here, Sonic. Aleena is here and also looking for The Key and you."

"And that's bad too?"

"Yes!" She hissed, this time she flickered away, clutching her side. She returned pale faced and sweating slightly. "I'm being pulled back, there's not much time so listen carefully. Both Aleena and her double are wearing chokers; you must make sure that they wear them at all times. It's important that they wear them at _all _times, Sonic, you got that?"

"Yeah… I got it. But listen; if Aleena can't find me, then she'll go to the next best thing, which is her Uncle Shadow." He pulled out his phone, flicked it open and frowned. "Hm, no signal. Nope, nada, zip. Wonder why."

She gave him a sheepish smile. " Uh, that's me. Techno-babble I don't understand, and would waste valuable time trying to explain, so I won't."

"Good. Because I probably won't understand it anyway. Hang on a tick." He vanished from view only to reappear just as quick with his trusty backpack over his shoulders. "There!" He announced proudly. " Shopping's been taken care of, and I've sent word to Shads. _**And**_, I left a message with the one person I trust with my life- and any of my friends and family lives-, with any luck…" A great roar of a powerful engine boomed overhead. A medium sized red plane soared in the blue sky above them, Sonic waved to the pilot, waved back with a smile. " He'll see that Aleena is safe. Now then…" He turned to face her. "I'm all yours Queenie Mama."

She looked at him like he'd grown a second head. " You're kidding, right? Too dangerous. You might not make it back alive, Sonic. I won't risk it."

The blue hedgehog knelt in font of her and smiled gently. " You came here to ask for my help, Amy. And I'm giving it. True I might not come back alive, but on the other hand I could be home in time for tea. So…. How do we get there?"

She looked closely at him, the gleam in his eyes, the gleam ready for any adventure that waited for them. Gritting her teeth, the faint vision of older Amy reached out to grasp his hands in her transparent ones, she grinned faintly.

"Hold on tight."

As they vanished in a blink of an eye, a small breeze whipped up a tiny amount of sand, making it dance. Faintly on the wind, the sound of children's laughter was heard.

--

**Robotnik Manor.**

" Amazing! Absolutely amazing!" Glory's face was glued to the computer screen while the scanner did its job. When the machine binged to tell her it had finished, she whipped off her- _Ahem_- Brainy specs and grinned at her collected audience. "There, all done. " She announced happily.

Aleena peered over her shoulder, her mouth dropped open a tad, looking at the 3D model floating in cyberspace. " Wow! That's it. That's The Key. So.. Uh, how do we find the rest?"

"Easy." Purred Glory, turning back to the screen. " I've set the scanners, that we normally use to find Chaos Emeralds, to the frequency of this Key of yours and _**bam**_**!**" Pressing a bottom, a window at the corner of the big screen flickered to life, a tiny dot bleeped, she smiled at them. The smile turned into a slight frown, "What's wrong, Shadow?"

Aleena looked over at Shadow, the black hedgehog was frowning. He shivered, just for a moment then gave them a weak grin before typing at his terminal. She played with her gold choker nervously as coldness washed over her, Shadow shivered again.

The black hedgehog pushed away from his computer terminal. " Sonic can't get here. It seems he's gone travelling and will be a while. But he knows that Aleena is here," The two girls opened their mouths to speak, but he hushed them. " It's complicated and he didn't have time to explain. But the good news is he's sent someone to help us gather the shards swiftly and with style."

"Well," prompted Glory. "Who?"

The Lab doors hissed open. The light behind the figure cloaked them in darkness. They stepped forward into the brightly lit room; Aleena and Glory's faces broke into big grins as two white tipped tails swished to and fro behind them.

"So, are we ready?" Tails beamed at the trio of friends. " _**The Tornado MK 3**_ is oiled up and ready for takeoff." He put on a well-worn baseball cap. "Hope you got some sunscreen Glory, because I think that-" He pointed to the bleeping dot "- is a place called **Paradise**, and it gets hot this time of year. A little friendly advice."

Glory nodded. "Right. Good! Good advice, Tails, yes. Thank you." She tucked her mini laptop under her arm, with the data and location safely downloaded, and headed for the doors to the upper levels of the Manor. " First things first. Put the shard in the safe, change into suitable clothes. Aleena, you so the same, don't want Sonic chewing my butt off. Shadow, lock down the house so nobody gets in, use command number 9." Shadow nodded, sat back down at his computer and started typing furiously. "What else? Ooh, my head! MY HEAD! Being a genius can be a bother some times." She shook her tangle of curls, "Never mind, it'll come back to me." She grinned. " Right then. Chocks away!"

Aleena watched Glory and her Uncle walk out of the Lab and looked over at Tails, raising a worried brow. "What have sweets got to do with flying a plane?"

The fox shrugged and whispered, "Don't ask."

--

In a dank and gloomy cave, Ruby the Hedgehog stood hands on hips, with protective goggles over her eyes watching the group of robots dig into the cave wall. The light flickered across her face, making her grimace, until a loud crack made her smile. She whipped off the safety glasses, shoved the metal men roughly out the way and crouched to retrieve her prize.

"Oh, you are just beautiful!" Holding it to her face, the rock shard glowed a brilliant yellow. "Ooh, lovely!" She purred.

A big, sweaty gloved hand snatched it from her and examined it closely. " A piece at last! Bless my beloved brain. The Eggman Empire will rise!" He held up the other shard-the blue one Ruby found earlier- and clicked them together. Nothing happened, he did again and again, each time getting the same result. Growling, he turned to the anti- princess. "What's going on?" He demanded.

She sighed. " The Key is broken, these two parts don't fit, at least not yet. There's a part in-between, I think. Red the colour was, I think it was red. Pretty sure it was red."

"You're testing me, girl." He warned her dangerously, " I don't like being tested."

"Alright! Keep your hair on!" She snapped back, quickly glancing up at his bald head. " Whatever." She skipped out of the cave and jumped into Eggmans waiting hovercraft. She typed quickly, " Just have to adjust this thing, and do something to this do-hickey, there!" She smiled. " Tad-da! There's a faint signal coming from a place called," She squinted at the tiny screen, " Station Square?" She sat back, hands behind her head and winked. "Easy, eh?"

Eggman peaked at the set of co-ordinates and grinned, his glasses glinted in the sunlight. " Oh, this is just _too_ easy!"

"Huh? You know this place?"

"I do. I do." He pressed a black button on the dashboard of his craft and spoke clearly into the radio. " All units be ready to converge on Robotnik Manor in 48 hours." He grinned at Ruby. "It's time I took over this operation, my child. From now on we do things my way. And if Sonic gets in the way.." He drew a finger across his throat and grinned.

"We had a deal! You get the shards and I'll take care of Sonic, you promised me that."

"Yes I did and you will once I've softened him up for you." He pushed her out of his ship, dumping her onto the stone floor with a bump. "Oh, and by the way," He said, " If you're thinking about swapping sides, I wouldn't. While you were resting I took the liberty of upgrading your pretty choker. One false move and **BOOM!** No more princess." He cackled madly, put the craft into gear and whooshed off back to base, leaving Ruby coughing and spluttering in a dust cloud.

When the dust had cleared, Ruby looked to the sky and watched as many bulky ships and streamlined robots flew in the same direction Eggman had gone. The anti- princess clutched at her treasured necklace. "No going back now, Ruby," She whispered softly. "You wanted an adventure of a lifetime and now you've got one." Pulling up her elbow length fingerless gloves, the dark princess revved up and raced down the cliff face to join her new master, weather she wanted to or not.

As she ran, she could have sworn that the howling winds whipping around her changed and now sounded like giggling, like some insane child. She glanced up, recognizing the sound and swallowed nervously.

* * *

**Might be a delay, computer's playing up.**

**Score now. Aleena one—Ruby two.**


	5. Chapter 4

**Sonic belongs to SEGA and nobody else.**

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Chapter 4. 

Wherever it was, it was a horrible place. Sonic stared around the vast space; dread filling up his every cell. He looked over at Amy, who appeared to be quite at home. He shivered as the winds picked up again, the third time since they had arrived.

"Cold, my king?"

He nodded, rubbing his arms. " A little bit." He allowed.

Amy nodded and unwrapped the shawl around her head, releasing her shoulder length quills. She handed the cloth to him and watched as he draped it over the tops of his shoulders and the backpack.

While she was sorting herself out, Sonic -- being Sonic-- gave her a quick once-over. Queen Amy didn't look that much different from Amy back home, obviously. She was about a few inches taller than him. Her hair was longer minus the headband; figure was still trim and firm, she was in the same backless red dress only this one was floor length and…. He nibbled his bottom his lip trying to think of the right word, grinning when the word _slinky_ came to mind. And she was bare foot, which stuck him as odd.

He looked up and found her staring at him, seeming doing the same, a blush found its way over his face as a pink glow found its way over hers. " I wasn't. I didn't mean. Aw, hell!" He groaned.

She laughed," Same old Sonic Hedgehog." She linked her arm through his and led the way. "Come on, there's something you must see."

After a while walking the never-ending blueness, Sonic asked, " What's up with this place? Shadow told me it was bright and nuts, that nothing made sense."

"It's dying, Sonic." Amy replied softly. " The Void is dying because of the dimensional bleeds. People are going where they're not suppose to, history is being re-written. You know that old _Killing Granddad_paradox?" He nodded. " It's happening all over the Multiverse, and we can't stop it, the walls are breaking down too fast for us to seal and The Void is just, dying."

" So, what do we do? Is there _anything_ we can do?"

She thought for a second," Well, there's a slim chance a and it involves an awful lot of running. Which is why I crossed over to find you." She stopped with a smile. "We're here."

Sonic's mouth dropped open. "You are kidding me." He whispered slowly, looking up and down. The area was bathed in a green glow, one he knew all too well. It was the glow of a Master Emerald. " Where are we? What is that?"

" One of the reasons I brought you here." Amy smiled at the giant gem, far bigger than the Master Emerald back home on the Floating Island guarded by Knuckles. The gem was as big as a house and surrounded by green mist, it seemed to be shifting in and out of existence, like Amy had done when Sonic first saw her. " This, Sonic the Hedgehog, this is the original Master Emerald. The one that gave birth to all the others scattered across the Multiverse. It is said if an Anarchy Key is plunged into its heart then the balance will be restored. But like all plans, there is a slight problem."

Sonic cocked a brow," Which is?"

" We have to journey to as many dimensions as we can and gather up as many Protectors before its too late. The Protectors, calling out to their versions of Chaos Emeralds will boost the signal and help lock up all the gateways, sealing them forever." She grinned, " I believe your Protector, called Chaos? Has agreed to help. The Protector from my world, Crystal Rose, has also agreed. They are waiting to be called."

He nodded. " OK, gather up a bunch of blue guys and a lot of ground to cover, I'm fast enough for that. And the second reason why you brought me here would be?"

"Ah, well. The Anarchy Key can only be used by one of royal blood. I'm a ghost. King Sonic has his hands full beating Robotnik, Princess Ruby has already used it, Aleena will use it in the near future, so that leaves you."

He laughed. "ME! I'm not royal. Just plain Sonic, that's me."

Amy turned to face him; she leaned forward and placed her hands on his temples. Closing her eyes, she hummed and then smiled. " You have King Sonic's blood running through your veins. He gave you some of his life force and not long ago, I take it. That, and the fact you are Sonic Prime means you're the one destined to save us all."

" I am?" She nodded. " I hate being me." He mumbled.

Amy rested her forehead against his, " Please help us. Pretty please?" Batting her lashes, she watched as Sonic's eyes softened slightly. "Please?"

He gave an inward groan, " Oh, all right. I give up." Amy giggled, making him pout. " One pretty face and a major crisis and I'm anyone's." He walked off into the misty blue, and then came to a halt. "Uh, where are we going?" Amy rolled her eyes, joined him and breaking into a fast run, led the way to the first gateway. " Since it's going to take us a while," He panted, trying his best to keep up with her, surprised at her new found running capability, but loving it all the same. " Why don't you tell me about the girls' chokers, and why it's important that they wear at all times?"

Amy nodded, "Well, it's like this…."

--

**Paradise.**

" Blimey! It's hot!" Glory fanned her face desperately. She was standing looking at a shower of sand thinking how the heck they were going to get through when her headset buzzed. She tapped the mic. " Please tell me you've figured it out, Shadow."

" _Translation was a bitch, but yeah and—AH! There we go!_" Shadow's voice was crackly over the radio. There came an almighty rumble and a sheltered doorway slid forward, the slant on the roof allowed the sand to trickle to the sides. A small figure on the hillside waved. " _How's it looking down there?_ "

Glory stepped back and waved with a big grin. " I bloody love you!" She shouted.

" _I know._ " Came his reply. There came a muffled gunshot and a thin wire connected to the rock formation behind her. Shadow raced down the zip-wire, and somersaulted off to land next to her with a smug smile.

"Wouldn't Chaos Control have been easier?"

A shrug. "I'm not risky it. I could make it worse tearing a hole in space and time just for a quick hop. Besides, she would never forgive me if Sonic became trapped there."

"What are you blabbering about? What was in that E-Mail Sonic sent you? Where did he go?"

He looked at his gloves, suddenly interested in the fine dust on his fingers. "It's complicated."

She raised a brown brow, " So, uncomplicated for me. I'm not dumb, you know."

The black hedgehog opened his mouth to speak when a young voice called out, "Look out below! Coming in for a landing!" Tails, using his twin tails like helicopter blades, lowered Aleena to the ground with a slight bump. The princess nodded her thanks to the fox as she dusted down the front of her T-Shirt. Tails landed next to her and straightened out his cap." Right. I suggest we find this shard thing and quick, before the days' heat spikes and we melt to death."

"Agreed." went Glory. She took out a small scanner from her backpack and swept the doorway, the machine bleeped. "Ooh, check it out." She slipped her glasses onto her nose for a closer read. "Massive energy readings deep inside, just three degrees off a Chaos Emerald." She grinned at the lilac hedgehog. "Think we found it."

"Good." Aleena pulled her ginger hair into a tidy ponytail, and bent to adjust her red sneakers." OK. You guys wait here. I'll race in, grab it and be out in a second." She thought for a moment, "Weelll, a second and a half."

"No way, princess." Shadow placed a hand on her shoulder, gently but firmly. "I'm going with you."

She frowned. "I'm not a kid anymore, Unc! I can do this by my self."

"I know, but I promise your dad, sweetheart." His eyes grew softer, he squeezed her shoulder. "OK?" She nodded, giving him a grin just like Sonic. He nodded." Then let's go."

They nodded to the others and headed into the cavern. A fair way in, Shadow produced a flare as the darkness grew. The ground sloped and they had to duck to avoid banging their heads. Rounding a corner, brilliant neon pink light blinded them; both hedgehogs shielded their eyes. As they peeked through their fingers, they looked over to each other and smiled with delight.

The shard was suspended in the beam of pink shininess. Aleena bounded over at once and extended her hand to claim her prize. Behind her, still standing in the doorway, Shadow felt uneasy. Something was off, it had been almost too easy to just waltz in and take the object, with no hint of a—

"Booby trap!" He screamed as the whole area rumbled and shook. He looked over to the far end of the chamber and just caught Aleena's worried gaze before the ceiling caved in, trapping her! "Aleena!"

**More soon. **

**Maybe, just maybe a certain batty hottie might turn up for a brief appearance.**

**Score is now Aleena two,( Red and pink.) Ruby two,( Blue and yellow.)**

**Things are hotting up now.**


	6. Chapter 5

**Ooh, something's brewing I can feel it. **

**Aah, THANK YOU!!**

**Sorry, a little childish. But big thanks to all. Enjoy chapter 5.**

**Be warned this is a biggie.**

* * *

Chapter 5.

**In a cave, somewhere in Paradise….**

The shard was suspended in the beam of pink shininess. Aleena bounded over at once and extended her hand to claim her prize. Behind her, still standing in the doorway, Shadow felt uneasy. Something was off, it had been almost too easy to just waltz in and take the object, with no hint of a—

"Booby trap!" He screamed as the whole area rumbled and shook. He looked over to the far end of the chamber and just caught Aleena's worried gaze before the ceiling caved in, trapping her! "Aleena!"

Tons of loose earth rained down, burying him completely. It was silent, and then with an almighty muffled yell, a torn gloved hand burst through the muck.

Shadow clawed his way out; he grappled onto anything that looked strong enough to take his weight. He felt himself sliding back into the mud when two hands wrapped around his arms and began to pull. With a strangled grunt, whoever was helping him tugged one last time and he found himself faced down in the dirt. He panted catching his breath, then rolled over onto his back. Meeting turquoise eyes and a friendly smile, he groaned and shut them tight.

"I hate to ask," he muttered slowly, "what's the payment and am I _ever_ going to live this down?"

A chuckle, soft and husky. " A new dress and never."

He opened his eyes bleakly. "How'd you find me, Rouge?"

Aleena appeared over him, muddy, but seemingly okay. " It was me. I know you said that it would be risky; b-but I used the shard like an Emerald and transported myself out."

"And nothing went wrong?"

"Everything went fine." She looked at him confused. "Why?"

He got to his feet, and glanced at the white bat. "You haven't answered my question yet."

Rouge smirked, "Didn't want to ruin a touching family moment." Shadow growled. Sighing, she reached into her purse, and pulled out a green shard. This one was more rounded than the others, clearly the end piece. " _Acquired_ this last night, hence the cocktail dress, was heading home and all of a sudden it blares to life! Nearly burns a hole in my bag, followed the trail and found Glory and Tails outside. We heard the explosion, I figured it to be you and here I am."

He gave her a friendly smirk. "Thanks." He surveyed the cavern. "I think we should leave. Got your shards?" Aleena held up her pink rock, Rouge jiggled her purse with a wink. He nodded, "Let's go."

A trip later and the group arrived back at the Manor. Glory and her team got to work stabilising the new shards before placing them in the safe with the red one. The others all adjourned to their rooms for showers and wardrobe changes.

Maybe it was because they had noticed the storm clouds brewing on the way home that they took no notice of the loud, thunderous booms outside. But when a loud cannon blast rocked the walls and alarms started ringing, they knew it was no storm.

They were under attack!

They met in the underground Lab. Shadow quickly ran to a terminal and typed furiously on the keyboard. Recognizing the robots design; he reached for his phone, punched in a number and growled softly when nothing happened.

"We've got to get Sonic!" He roared over the continuing explosions. " We need to boost the signal."

"But how?" Glory screamed back.

He thought quickly, and then he clicked his fingers. "Chaos Emerald!"

"Don't have one!" She replied.

His computer bleeped, he squinted at the readings. "What? _What_! Energy levels increasing to 500 percent. But how?" He looked over to where Aleena was standing; she was clutching her choker and muttering under her breath. He got up and made her looked at him, when she opened her eyes they weren't green anymore, but ruby red. He smiled "You can do it."

She nodded, closed her eyes once more and continued her chant. The same five words over and over. "Find me, daddy. Find me."

Glory suddenly had a brainwave. "How about hooking up the Master Emerald on the Floating Island to the Telephone Exchange? Then using the computer get everyone to dial at once?"

"Brilliant!" Cried Tails, jumping into a spare chair and clacking keys. He looked over with a grin. "Done."

"Okay everyone," Shadow produced his phone. Glory and the other girls held up theirs, Rouge took out her slim lined mobile. Tails had his phone in one hand, the other still at the keyboard. The black hedgehog nodded. "Let's do it!"

Tails hit **enter** again; the large screen at the end of the room that had displayed the Telephone Exchange vanished and was replaced by a window containing the number everyone in the world was calling.

A computer voice announced, "_Calling Sonic the Hedgehog_."

--

Back somewhere in The Void, Sonic stared at the dripping creature in front of him. It was turquoise, (like Chaos back home) and had two heads, each with its own set of reptilian yellow eyes. He gulped and stepped forward.

"Look, big Jell-O- man,"

"Oh, good start." Said Amy next to him. He scowled at her. "Sorry."

" A bit of hush, thank you." He turned back to the creature. "Listen, long story short, I need your help, plain and simple. Many of the Protectors are gathering at the original Master Emerald at the heart of the Void to stop whatever is happening,"

Jell-O Protector titled its head, as though considering his words; a forked tongue flicked out and licked one set of eyes. Sonic shuddered in slight revulsion at the sight. The Protector smiled at the two hedgehogs, " _You speak words from the Prime Zone, there fore you are Sonic Prime_."

The blue hero grinned, " Yes that's me. Now, will you help us?"

Jell-O Man cackled wildly, "_Oh! I'm afraid I'll have to decline_."

"Why?" Asked Amy.

The Protector flapped his many arms, "_The walls are breaking down, I can taste it, all that fear and despair. Mmm…so yummy. My Chaos Gems will be recharged in no time at all, and I will rise up and destroy everything. Why would I want to stop that?_"

Sonic frowned, " Because it's wrong. We've seen your Chaos Gems, they're growing uncontrollably. They'll explode unless we do something and your world is lost forever. Is that what YOU want?"

He shrugged his wobbly shoulders, "_It's the way things are now. And not you, Sonic Prime, can change it._" A shimmering portal of blue light appeared behind the two travellers. " _You failed, hedgehogs. Good luck on the rest of your journey._" He watched as Amy walked through first, Sonic was about to step through when he placed a webbed hand on his shoulder. " _Before you go_," He whispered, _" I am sorry for your loss_."

Sonic knitted his brows in confusion before shrugging off the hand and walking through the portal.

They faded back near the original Master Emerald; Sonic huffed and folded his arms over his chest, clearly peeved. Amy quickly glanced over and gave him a weak smile.

"It's not over."

"Might as well be. Look at it!" He pointed to where a large crack had appeared; red ooze leaked from it dripping onto the light blue floor, staining it. The Void was bleeding to death, quite literately. "No way is three going to be enough. Why can't these stupid Protectors see that! What are you grinning at?" He snapped, causing her to jump.

" Sorry. Didn't know you were having a moment."

He groaned and rubbed a hand over his face. "No, I'm sorry." His shoulder sagged. " I'm not used to losing and if I lose this time, I lose big time."

"Then don't." She walked over and gave him a reassuring hug, which him returned. "Plenty of other portals to choose from, where to next, Team Leader?"

He shrugged, "Doesn't matter, we'll never—" He was cut off by a strange noise. Amy heard it too. "Hold on," He said slowly, "That's,"

"A phone!" She cried. She reached into his pack and withdrawing his ringing mobile. " I don't recognize the number."

Sonic grinned broadly. "Oh, but I do! I need to get home and help them." He was already walking off when Amy grabbed his arm.

"Wait! If you go like that, you'll never get back. Here," She handed him her choker. "So you can return."

He nodded and clipped it around his neck. He looked around the never-ending blueness of The Void. "Which way?"

Amy pointed somewhere in the distance, a tiny golden ring emerged. She gave him a playful shove in the right direction. "Go!"

He nodded, gave her a salute and revved up. "I'll come back!" He shouted rushing towards the right of light. "I promise!"

"I know!" She cried back, watching him grew smaller and smaller.

Hitting his top speed, Sonic swan-dived into the pool of white light. It shimmered around him, and then pulled him at high velocity along the Ghost Roads. The journey made him queasy, he pulled Amy's shawl tighter around his head for protection as the light blinded him. It seemed like an age had past, and then the pulling got slower.

Sonic braced himself for impact; the light of the portal grew brighter, if that was possible, he closed his eyes and started counting. _Three, two, ONE!_The whiteness enveloped him in warmth and then spat him out onto a hard surface. He was back home, at night judging by the half- robot Moon hanging in sky, and looking at the drapes on the windows; he'd arrived at Robotnik Manor.

He sniffed the air, _hmm, someone's cooking._ He stepped out of the room and his eyes widened in horror. _OK._ He corrected himself. _**Something's**__ cooking_.

The Manor house was on fire!

Sonic staggered in the smoke-filled hallway, the strong fumes made his eyes watered and his throat burn. Gagging, the hedgehog fell to his knees, covering his mouth.

_Hope everyone got out OK._

A flicker of movement caught his eye. Groaning, Sonic got his feet once more and, at a steady jog, headed further down the corridor. He rounded the corner and ducked as a leather-clad fist lashed out.

_Geez! Only I could've dodged that._

He span, hoping to land a punch of his own, but was blocked by the black clothed intruder. Attack after attack was unsuccessful. He panted, the smoke hurting his eyes even more, and wiped the sweat from his brow with the back of his hand.

" Who are you?" He asked, his voice muffled by the roaring fires. The intruder just grinned and raced towards him at lighting speeds. A black hand wrapped around his neck, his back slammed into the wall behind, causing loose ceiling to rain down on both of them. " Answer me! Who are you?"

The fires blazed and he caught the blood red of--he had to blink --_her _hair, the purple ness of lilac fur and the trimness of a body hardly covered by the revealing outfit she wore. Her turquoise eyes glinted in the firelight, and she backed away, slowly.

Sonic saw the faintest flicker of emotion cross her face, and before he could stop her, found his face in her hands and rough lips against his own in a kiss filled with angry passion and something else he couldn't quite put his finger on. He tried to wiggle free, he did, but she held onto him so tightly against her he could breathe.

When she did let him go, she kneaded him in the stomach and slammed her fists into his back, causing him to double over in pain. He fell onto his face, dust shooting up his nose and blinding him once again. When he managed to muster enough strength to lift his head, he found her walking calmly backwards, a small device in her hand.

Something, that looked suspiciously like a detonator!

" No. Wait!"

She pressed the switch! Somewhere in the lower levels of the Manor, a big boom rocked the foundations to their core. Sonic yelled and covered his head, partly to stop any more ceiling dropping on him, but mostly to keep his quills stream-lined. The intruder stood her ground; the shock-wave from the explosion just messed up her hair a bit.

The doppelganger of the princess threw the device into the fires and vanished into the blackening smoke. Sonic dropped his hands, watched her go, and licked his lips before realising what he was doing and spat on the floor in disgust.

_Things have just gotten complicated._ He groaned, and then he spotted something on the floor. He peered closer, it was a small microchip. _How did that get there?_ He wondered, then it struck him, the other princess must've given it to him when she….He slipped it into his backpack's front pocket. Getting to his feet and massaging his sore back he staggered out the house, into the fresh air. Outside he found a small group of ten watching the Manor burn. At least six of them were humanoid, the other four were shorter. One of them turned at his approaching footsteps, her green eyes widened.

"Daddy!" Cried Aleena, she flung her arms around him in a tight hug.

The air left his lungs." Oomph! Let me go, let me go!" He whimpered, stepping back. "Just been duelling with your evil twin." A smirked. " Kid's got one hell of a right hook."

"You took your time." Shadow growled, smacking his arm.

" I've been busy! Ghost Roads not fun; you of all people know that. Also, Ouch!" Sonic rubbed his arm then smiled. Shadow smirked in return "Right, how long before The Key is in one piece?"

Aleena blinked, "You know?"

Sonic grinned at her. "Like I said, been dimension hopping with a very special guide." He winked at her.

"Mama?"

A nod, Sonic produced the choker Amy had given him. " It's hers so I can get back. It was weird; I got a phone call inside The Void." He caught their smiles, "But how?"

Shadow gestured to Aleena, " She did it. Boost the signal of our Master Emerald by using her necklace to find you."

Sonic rubbed his muzzle. "Hmm. Can I see?" He gestured to her necklace; she held it protectively against her. "Please?" Redundantly she handed over the golden band, Sonic examined the underside. His face split into a grin, "King Sonic's a _real_ genius."

Shadow looked over his shoulder and saw microscopic green flecks sparkle in the firelight. " Genius." He agreed.

Sonic gave back the choker, he groaned slightly. " Must go soon. Still have lots to do back in The Void." He was quiet, and then he smacked his head. "Almost forgot!" He rooted in his backpack." I found this, maybe Glory could look into it."

"You called?" Glory walked over and put on her Brainy specs. "Ooh, that's a data chip." She peered closely at it. "Defiantly Eggman's work, but so tiny. It could fit into a..."

"Choker?" Someone offered.

Shadow and Rouge took up fighting stances, Glory ordered her girls to take arms while Sonic and Tails protected Aleena. Ruby stood alone, in the rain, the fires flared up exposing her face. Sonic lowered his hands; he knew now what the look was.

It was fear.

"I didn't want to, he made me." She pointed to the fires. "He put a bomb in necklace, I had to obey." She nodded at Glory's hand. "His plans are on it. He's building another portal. He nearly caught me."

"_**Oh, not nearly.**_" Everyone looked up, an Egg-bot had appeared with at least ten others. Its stomach panel slid open revealing a TV screen, Eggman grinned at the dark princess. " _**I **_did! _**ATTACK!**_"

The robots primed their guns. Glory and her troop readied their weapons. The two groups of soldiers advanced; in all the confusion Sonic heard the horrific sound of a laser hitting flesh. He turned, eyes widened in fear as he saw who was hit and screamed,

"Princess!"

* * *

**Oh no!**

**Score; Aleena- red, pink and green . Ruby/ Eggman- blue and yellow. **


	7. Chapter 6

**Enjoy!**

* * *

Chapter 6.

Now, there's not much the world that scared Sonic. Lets face facts, Sonic stood up to things that made little children scream in terror and dive for cover almost weekly. But right now, standing in the pouring rain next to the smouldering remains of Robotnik Manor, the blue hedgehog was probably the most scared he'd been in his life time.

The two groups of soldiers- flesh and metal, advanced; in all the confusion Sonic heard the horrific sound of a laser hitting flesh. Turning, his eyes widened in fear as he saw who was hit and screamed,

"Princess!"

It seemed everything had slowed to a crawl. The unmistakable red stain spread on lilac fur. Turquoise eyes blinked in disbelief, Ruby looked at the younger version of her father and muttered, "Daddy?"

Sonic moved with the lighting fast reflexes that he was famous for and caught her before she hit the ground. He moved with her and sat cross-legged on the wet grass, cradling her across his lap. Barely hearing the muffled and far away orders of " Seize fire! Seize fire, damn it!" coming from both Robotniks, he whipped off Amy's shawl and used it in vain to slow the bleeding.

Behind him, Shadow forced the officer who had fired the fatal shot to her knees and grabbed her pistol. He was now aiming it at the girls' head. His eyes a furious red storm; his lips peeled back to show his fangs. Pressing the barrel of the gun firmly against her temple, he whispered, "Give me one good reason why I shouldn't. Just one."

The girl shook, terrified, "Sh-she's the enemy. Isn't that good enough!"

He cocked it. "No, it's not."

"Shadow that's not helping!" Glory wrestled the gun from his hand and slapped the girl. She pointed towards the City of Station Square. "Leave. NOW!" She watched the girl scramble to her feet and run. Glory huffed; walked past the remaining officers who kept their guns trained on the Egg-bots and joined the others surrounding Sonic and the fallen princess. "How is she?"

Tails was kneeling beside the two hedgehogs checking Ruby's vital signs; he withdrew his fingers from Ruby's neck, looked up and shook his head sadly. He got to his feet and let his best friend and _daughter_ have their last few moments together.

The princess regarded him with curious eyes. Sonic gently pushed stray strands of hair from Ruby's forehead, at contact she flinched away.

"I know he hurt you." He whispered softly. "And I'm sorry."

She shuddered violently. "I'm dying aren't I?"

"Do you want me to lie to you?" A shake of red hair, "Then yes, you are."

She gave a trembling laugh. "It-It sucks."

He smiled sadly, "Don't be scared, it'll be over in a few minutes. I promise."

"Promise?" He nodded. She sniffed loudly, "I didn't mean for this to happen. I'm sorry, daddy." She sobbed. "I wish I never found that stu-stupid book in The Lost Library." Behind them, Shadow's eyes narrowed slightly.

Sonic held the dark princess close so her head rested in the crook of his neck. Feeling out of touch with the closeness, Ruby was unsure how to respond until Sonic rubbed her back in gentle circles. She found herself calming under his touch and nuzzled into the warm skin of his neck. Keeping a watchful eye on the other princess, she shuddered violently again as an invisible wind whooshed around them. She forced herself up so she was near his ear and whispered something that made him stiffen as he had heard the sentence before.

She whispered, "Daddy, be-before I go…I'm sorry."

Sonic narrowed his eyes at her. " Sorry for what?"

She murmured, "For everything, but I'm really sorry..." She swallowed painfully, "For your loss." Her eyes closed, she sighed one last time and slumped against him.

Before Sonic could do anything, a green glow suddenly erupted from her necklace, making them all shield their eyes. Starting at her toes, Ruby slowly started to vanish into green dust. The dust particles flew up and swirled in the smoky air before diving into her necklace. The necklace hung in the air in front of Sonic who was stone still. He reached out to take it with a loud sniff.

The gang behind him looked at each other. Aleena sniffled and wrapped her arms around her uncle Shadow who patted her back. Tails bit the end of one his tails to stop himself from crying, Rouge did something completely out of character and gave the little cub a cuddle. Glory and her girlie team folded their arms with their head bowed low.

"_**Oh no. Did something bad happen?"**_

The group all jumped in alarm, the Egg-bot bearing Eggman's face had re-appeared and was floating above them.

He looked at Ruby's necklace in Sonic's trembling hand, _**"Hm, a little ahead of**__**schedule but…**__Effective__**."**_ The doctor grinned and waved down the camera at them before leaving. _**"Ta –ta!"**_

"Huh?" Glory turned. One last mother of explosions rocked the house. "Oh, no!" She screamed as three Egg-bot flew from the wreckage each carrying a small black box, the stasis boxes containing the shards vanished into the clouds. " The Key!" fisting her hands in her brown locks, she looked desperately around. "We need a plan. Anyone?"

Shadow let go of Aleena; he slowly made his way to Sonic's side. Sonic was staring at the silver band; he rested a hand on the others shoulder. " Anything?"

Sonic turned it over, slowly but surely his face broke into a grin as he was bathed in a familiar green glow. "Oh I'm good. I'm very, _**very**_ good!" Knowing he didn't have long, Sonic revved up and shot off down the dirt path leading out of the outskirts. At the same time a howling portal faded in front of him, looking back at his friends he gave them a cheery wave and jumped into the light. " I'll be back!"

The light died down and Tails and Glory looked at each other. "Mystic Ruins?" suggested the fox.

Glory nodded, "Mystic Ruins."

----

Sonic burst through the portal at breakneck speeds. With no time to waste he ran towards the heart of The Void, to where the original Master Emerald was waiting. He past Amy, who was crouched on the floor trying to protect herself from the winds that had suddenly grown worse. As she heard his Sonic boom she looked up, worry clearly readable on her face.

"What the hell have you done? Something has disturbed the balance, it gotten worse and it's all your fault!" She screamed over the howling winds.

"Amy get down!" The hedgehog braced himself. He curled up into a ball, and praying it wouldn't hurt too much, launched a homing attack. He entered the glowing centre of the Emerald and was absorbed instantly.

"Sonic!" The Queen scrabbled to her feet and ran to the gemstone. Her eyes darted across its surface for any sign. From the stones' centre a white light mushroomed out-ward, it erupted from the top and soared up into the blueness above. A portal a few meters away opened up and swallowed it whole. As it closed again, she heard a faint locking click from within and spotted that the some of the bleeding had slowed. She span round, eyes never leaving the centre and crossed her fingers. " Come on, Sonic."

The Emeralds' glow began to pulsate, with an almighty bang; Sonic was propelled from the stone like a blue rocket. The hedgehog flew through the air screaming at the top of his lungs coming down face-first to a skidding halt a few feet away.

"Oh my gosh! Sonic!" She ran to his side, knelt and flipped him over. " Are you crazy! What the heck did you do?"

He opened his eyes and smiled weakly. " I saved her." He managed to say before groaning. " Ugh, my head." He sat up slowly and unclasped the gold necklace; he handed it back to her and winked. "You see, I **did** remember."

Amy clicked her choker back into place, her mouth dropped opened slightly as she realised what he had done. "You used the Master Emeralds' connections to teleport Ruby's soul back home? Oh Sonic, thank you!" She hugged him hard. "Because of you, a portal has closed for good, we're one step closer! Oh!" She smothered his face with kisses of gratitude. "Thank you, thank you!"

"Hey, hey! Heroics first, smooches later." Groggily getting to his feet, he rummaged in his pack and pulled out his first aid kit. He popped two pills into his mouth and chewed.

"You're popping pills at a time like this! What if some of your fans saw you?"

He held up the box so she could read the fine print, "They're chewable pain killers. I've got a stinking headache." He smiled, already feeling the effects. "What's the latest here?"

Amy grinned, "Well, thanks to Chaos and Crystal we've got a grand total of ten Protectors. Isn't that great?" Her smile faded when he didn't look to pleased. "Something up?"

He nodded sadly, "Eggman stole The Key pieces from Aleena and the others. It won't be long before he has them all. We've got to hurry." A new portal opened, grabbing Amy by the hand, the two hedgehogs ran together to continue their mission.

She pushed back her fringe." Well even if he does get them all, and manages to fix The Key, Aleena is the only one left to activate it and I highly doubt she'll help him willingly."

As they approached the light leading to a new world, Sonic became suddenly worried. " Unless he forces her to."

--

**Egg-fleet Flagship.**

Eggman stood over a lab table, on it the five pieces of The Key were laid bare for the scanners. According to the data files he had only two more shards to find. He hummed and walked over the to far side of the vast chamber, a small group of robots were in the middle of erecting a large stone ring. Around the edges, the bots were etching strange and unknown symbols. His research had led him to believe that they held some meaning, even though they looked like gibberish to him.

"Oh, everything's going so well!" He sang to himself doing a little dance. "Only one thing troubles me, to use this marvellous Key… I need the remaining princess." He walked over to the windows overlooking the planet below, folded his arms and thought hard. "She has the speed and strengths of that miserable rodent, so maybe… Just maybe…" He reached into his pocket and pulled out a crumbled surveillance photograph, on it was the faded image of a smiling pink hedgehog in a white crop top and red tracksuit bottoms. " She has the same weakness as well."

Giving his Egg-bots the order, he giggled wildly and went back to over see the final preparations. Soon the Eggman Empire would rise and no one would be a safe, especially little speedy rodents named Sonic.

* * *

**As is I would really kill someone off, honestly!**

**I'm getting all excited, the big finale is almost here.**


	8. Chapter 7

**Ugh, I don't feel too good.**

**So many ideas, not enough chapters, please R and R if you want.**

**I just got STH issue 200 and I feel so sorry for Eggman, poor guy.**

* * *

Chapter 7. 

Tails' workshop was a hive of activity. The fox was at his computer trying to crack the fierce codes on the data-chip Ruby had given them earlier. With the help of his semi-genius daughter, CARLA, he'd managed to break the first three. It was slow going and he needed more time, the one thing they didn't have.

Behind him was a sight that made him feel better though, elbow deep in techno trinkets wearing thick work gloves, was an elderly blue hedgehog with a greying moustache and eyebrows. Sonic's Uncle Chuck had arrived to help; true he was entering the game very late, but now he was right at home and ready to help his nephew anyway he could.

Since the fire, Glory and her team had been to-ing and fro-ing between the workshop and the Manor House, bringing many objects to Uncle Chuck (hence the hedgehog nearly being buried.) in the hope that at least _something_could be salvaged to aid their cause. It turned out that Lady Luck was smiling down on them for a change; Chuck was already drawing up blueprints to improve Glory's prototype teleport bracelets with her help of course.

The computer in front of Tails bleeped an in-coming message; the cub slipped on his headset and put the call through. "Ok, go ahead."

"_Tails, it's Shadow."_

"I wondered where you got to. What's up?"

"I went to check on Amy, since none of us could get through, and I can't find her anywhere. Amy's been taken!"

"**What!**" He screamed, Chuck and Glory looked up from their work. They looked at each other; worry clearly on their faces. "Oh, this is bad, really bad. Do you know what happened?"

Shadow sighed deeply, _" The Spa workers say she was taken in the middle of the night. They heard her screams and came to investigate, by the time they arrived she was gone, her room's been completely trashed."_

"Who would do that? And more importantly, why?" He rubbed his chin, " Did you find anything? A vital clue, something that they could've missed?"

"_Well… I did find something outside; I found an imprint of a boot with the letter _**E **_stamped in its centre. I believe Eggman has taken her."_

"What for?"

Chuck took another headset and spoke, " I think Eggman is setting up a trade, Shadow. Something we want for something he needs, namely the rest of the shards. We must find them fast and Eggman's new Base. I want to make this clear, black hedgehog… It is _vital_ that we make the trade go in our favour."

"_Why?" _Chuck was quiet as he thought long and hard, then he told Shadow why. _"I understand, Sir Charles but one thing puzzles me… You seemed to know an awful lot about dimension hopping, care to share?"_

Chuck smiled slightly. " Lets just say I've done my homework. Now, we have no time to waste. I want you to track down Aleena, she's looking for the next shard in the Eastern region, and Eggman might try something." The computer bleeped again, "Oh, speak of the devil. Go ahead."

"_Uncle Chuck? What the heck are you doing there? I thought you were on vacation."_ Aleena's voice was a little crackly over the speakers.

" I've been drafted in to help. Now, what's your status?"

The princess couldn't hide the glee in her voice. _"I got it, Great Uncle! The grey shard is safe with me. I found it in a cave in the jungle; it was really spooky, all the time I could hear soft giggling and I swear one time I saw golden eyes staring at me from the darkness. Do you want me to return?"_

"Yes. Get back as soon as you… **AAGGHH**!" Chuck nearly had a heart attack when Aleena appeared out of nowhere in a blaze of silver light. He clutch his chest and frowned at her. "Warn me next time you do that, please."

She blushed and looked at her sneakers. "Sorry, Uncle."

" _Hello! What about me?"_ Shadow huffed.

"Sorry, Shadow. Aleena's used Chaos Control and nearly killed Chuck in the process. Come on back to the workshop and we'll have a plan ready as soon as Rouge gets back from the Floating Island."

"Understood. Shadow, out."

Tails took off his headset, Chuck and Glory went back to work while Aleena headed down to the Lab to put the grey shard in a safe place. The door to the workshop crashed opened revealing a very ticked off looking Rouge. The bat stormed over to the big table, sat down and put her feet up.

"Erm..."

She held up a warning finger. "Don't start with me, Fox boy. I'm not in the mood." She huffed, "I went to see Knuckles, to see if that big gem of his could help with tracking the other two shards… And guess what I found." Reaching into her trouser pocket she pulled out a silk cloth bag. " I found this! Knuckle-head's been holding out on us." Rouge unwrapped the last shard ---turquoise in colour---and pushed it to the middle of the table. "So, how many more have we got to find now?"

The rest of the gang grinned. Aleena, who had come back up when she heard Rouge's rant, spotted the shard and gave a happy squeal of delight. She ran up to the bat, flung her arms around her neck and hugged her tightly.

"What the--"

"Oh, thank you Auntie Rouge! Thank you!"

"Uh, why?"

Aleena grinned brightly. " We have them all! We got them all!" She sang, letting go and dancing around the workshop. " I can go home! Yay!"

"Hold it, princess," Chuck placed a firm hand on her shoulder, she turned to look at him with raised brows. " We need the other five before that happens and to find them, we need to locate Eggman's Base, or his Egg-fleet."

"I'm all over it, Chuck." Glory was already clacking on the keys of Tails' computer. " I've set up a link to G.U.N, they've been motioning the skies for anything suspicious. They owe me one." She added at their odd looks, she smiled weakly as the screen took ages to load. " This might take a while."

Chuck nodded. "OK. While you do that we'll get things ready here," He went back to his work and studied the blueprints, "if I fix this here and that there, I can maybe make about five of these prototypes." He stroked his moustache, "Tails, see if you can breaks the codes protecting the plans of Eggman's Base, we need to know the following: where Amy is being kept, where he's keeping the shards and the portal. Look for high-energy outputs; get Rouge to help you crack the security grids. OK?"

Tails grinned. "OK, Chuck."

"You mean I've got to work with Fox boy again?" The bat tugged down the hem of her top, she looked over at the cub, winked and was rewarded with his blush." You got it, Sugar-Chuck."

Aleena was the only one left, his face grew serious. "Princess, in Sonic's room is your backpack from the last time you were here. Inside you should find your special leotards, you'll need one as I suspect there will a lot of running involved, also it gets pretty cold up there," He jabbed a thumb skyward, "in space."

"In… Space? Are you serious, Uncle?" He nodded. "Whoa…this is huge, then."

"It's going to get huger," again she raised her brows. "Shadow will brief you when he gets back. Now go on, get ready." He watched her disappear to the lower levels and hoped that when the time came she would be ready to face her final test as a royal hedgehog. If she was, then it was her golden opportunity to shine.

**--**

**High in the night sky…**

Eggman over looked his majestic fleet of ships like a proud papa. Beside him, chained up by a glowing electrical leash, was Amy Rose. She was dirty and sleepy, still dressed in her night things and staring with horror at the sheer size of it all.

Eggman smiled down at her, "Impressed, my dear?"

She snorted, "Not really. So you got a load of ships, big whoop. They're still going to beat you and not fall for your tricks, Doc, they're too smart."

"Oh, I think they will, girl. The princess has the same weakness as her father, she will come for you; and when she does…" He pressed a switch on his wrist. Along the nearest cruiser, (one of five), large cannons shot out primed and ready to take out hedgehog sized targets. "I'll be waiting." A wide grin spread across his face, "Oh this is going to be super, super fun!!"

Amy gulped and paled.

* * *

**As a new legend is about to be born, another ends as the bravest of the heroes' is forced to make the ultimate sacrifice. **

**But who?**

**More soon!**


	9. Chapter 8

**Warning! This is a biggie and could get fiddly.**

**I wanted to carry on a trend, if it doesn't feel right, tell me and I'll play it safe. **

**For Anarchy Key think Key blade and you pretty much got it.**

**Brace yourselves…a new legend is born! **

* * *

Chapter 8

Tails watched as Rouge crawled under yet another control panel. " Are you sure you know what you're doing?" He asked.

She peeked at him over her shoulder and gave him a wink. "Uh-huh. Don't look so worried T2, it's all part of G.U.N's grand plan. You see, if this trade goes pear-shaped and Eggman manages to give us the slip, it doesn't matter which one of these escape pods he takes because each one is fitted with a homing beacon," She held up the little bug for him to see. " As soon as he lands, he'll be a sitting duck because they'll be waiting."

"That is brilliant!" He beamed.

She grinned. "I know!" A quick fiddled later and she crawled out, dusting her hands. "OK, let's find the others." Grabbing the cubs' hand, they headed for the door. It opened of its own accord and white flashlights blinded them. " ARGH!"

**--**

Amy paced the width of her cell again. She scanned the walls for any weak spots but knew it was hopeless. _One day,_ She thought, _someone else will be the one who needs rescuing. _

A loud bang followed by a series of smaller ones caught her attention. The noise had started not long ago and was driving her nuts. What was it? But now another noise mixed with it, a sort of sawing grind. It seemed to be getting closer, she pressed her hands to the wall and felt it vibrate violently. She backed away sharp-ish and got her answer a second later. The wall crumbled away revealing a figure in the dust, a figure with sticky out quills and red eyes.

"Sonic, is that you?" She stepped forward slowly. "Did you find Emeralds and change into your Super form?"

The figure stepped into the dim light, casually brushing debris off the patch of white fur on his chest. "Not Sonic," He smiled softly at her, " but just as super."

"Shadow…? It's you…" She smiled through her tears and crushed him in a fierce hug. She looked up at the ceiling as the banging started up again, "What is going on up there? It sounds like a war zone."

"That's probably because it is."

She pulled away from him, thinking hard." Is this about that big stone circle sitting in the Observation Deck? I heard Eggman mention something about _'royal blood to open the door.' _to his robots. Before I was taken, I saw the News about a lilac hedgehog, she's here, isn't she? My little Aleena?" Shadow nodded once, she grabbed his arm. "Take me to her, please."

He nodded and produced a spare bracelet. "Take this," she clipped to her wrist. "And hold on tight." She nodded and wrapped her hand firmly around his arm, making him wince slightly. Shadow lifted the edge of his glove to activate his own band, before he could, the cell door crashed open and a group of Egg-bots stormed in guns raised and primed at the two hedgehogs. "Ah…Boll--"

--

Aleena was doing what she did best: Running for her life. So far the plan was working, she was acting as a diversion allowing Tails and Rouge to deactivate the security grid around the shards and portal while Shadow entered the ship to find Amy.

_Good so far._ She thought, dodging missile fire from the horde of Egg-bots. The robots were getting better the longer they were fighting, leading her to believe they were new learning robots, which was a problem. Thankfully the princess was blessed with her fathers' speed and agility, she ran the walls of the ships fancy decorations, across the ceiling and down the other side without a mark.

"Better luck next time, creeps!" she shouted over her shoulder, leaving the bots eating her dust. Turning back to the front, her grin faded at the sight that greeted her, making her skid to a stop. "O…K…"

"_Ah, your highness. We meet at last."_ Eggman's face was hardly visible through his tinted visor. His newest Armour was in similar design to the one Sonic had fought in a previous adventure, but this one was an arsenal on legs. Large cannons sat on the shoulders, the fingers on the clawed hands hid mini machine guns. All were primed to take her out. _"The shards, princess,"_

Her hands reached around her trusty backpack subconsciously and patted the bulk in the fabric. "First, where's my mother?"

His grin was smarmy. _"Safe. Along with the rest of them."_He tapped on the suits controls. A bubble appeared and Aleena growled, inside was her friends and family a little roughed up but seemingly fine. They looked around in dazes, spotted her and pounded on the smooth surface. She couldn't hear them. _" Another use for diamond glass, princess. Super strong and can block any noise. Now, the shards…"_ He held out a hand to her.

The princess sought Shadow's gaze, the black hedgehog nodded, she nodded back. Time to put the _real _plan into action. Eggman started towards her, a mad glint in his eyes. " Hold on a sec." She used the time to make herself look good, tiding up her ponytail, smoothing down her tank dress and making sure that the black leotard under it wasn't ripped, finally adjusting the white band across her shiny red sneakers. "Now, where were we? Oh, right… No way, you Crud-bum!" She jeered, blowing a raspberry. "You want 'em? You got to catch me first, see ya!" With a wave, she vanished in a dust cloud.

"_The game's afoot now, rodent. Have at thee!"_The doctor reached back a fist and unloaded a round of rockets in her direction. Aleena was quicker and was already half way back up the passage with the recovering Egg-bots. He screamed with fury and smashed his palm onto a big black button. _" Not this time, Sonic."_

At hearing the sound of strong jet engines Aleena slowed down just enough to duck and rolled safely out of harms way. The monster robot soared over her and smacked face first into the wall. "Ooh…that's got to hurt." She cringed with a playful smile. Her victory was short lived however as the giant stood upright, swivelled quickly and crouched low. "Uh-oh."

With a yelp, she revved up and headed towards the loaded cannons mounted on the top of the ship. Eggman fired up his blast thrusters and gave chase. Thinking like her father, Aleena jumped, somersaulted over the cannons to duck behind them, the cannons being too slow to get her got Eggman instead. The resulting explosion left a smoking creator slap bang in the middle of the path.

_That ought to do it._ She dusted herself down, planted herself onto the cannons' top and peered into the smoking debris and dust. _That was slightly easier than I thought…_ She shrugged. _Ah well._

From the ruins, a metal hand, attached to a bungee cord, shot out much faster than she anticipated and grabbed her in an iron grip. Eggman was now very ticked off! _"Play time is over, Sonic. The shards or your friends will die!"_

--

Inside the bubble, Tails was frantically trying to de-code the blocking signal preventing them from using the bracelets. Success! With a satisfied bleep the bands were humming with power again. He grinned at the rest of the gang.

Shadow was already typing in the new co-ordinates. "If the doctor loses, he'll head for the portal. Is the grid down?" Rouge gave him thumbs up, Tails nodded. "OK, hold on. Here we go!" Everyone joined hands and together they vanished in a flash of blue light.

--

Just peaking over the top of the metal fist was enough for Aleena to see the blue flash. Her friends were safe. She looked over to the doctor and grinned.

"My name is Aleena, doctor. King Sonic is my father."

He drew her up to eye level_. "You're a speedy hedgehog and a thorn in my side. If you won't give me the rest of The Key, I'll prise them from your cold dead fingers and use your blood to open to door for the rise of the Eggman Empire!"_ He blinked suddenly and looked at her more closely. _"Huh? What is this?"_ The face of the lilac hedgehog flickered to Sonic's just for a second; complete with the same eye sparkle and confident grin. _"What… are you?"_

Her grin grew. "Your worse nightmare."

"_I don't think so."_ He sang. The top half of the robot started spinning wildly. With a mad cackle, the mad man released his hold on the princess. A helpless scream left her lips as she, and the last shards were hurled into the depths of space._ "So long, Sonic!"_ He cried triumphantly.

--

**(Told you it was fiddly.)**

On the Observation Deck, where the other shards and the portal were housed, Amy howled in despair and thumped the thick glass windows. Tails blinked hard and chewed the insides of his cheeks; again Rouge came up and gave him a gentle hug, which he returned.

Shadow was looking over the other stone pieces in their glass case. The shards glinted in their different colours, getting brighter and brighter as they sensed the rest of their family, and the one who united them, just like the Chaos Emeralds.

He smiled softly and looked out the window. _Come on, Aleena. You can do it. You are the daughter of Sonic the Hedgehog. Trust your powers, you __**can**__ do this._

--

Aleena activated her shield forming a golden orb around her and slowing her descent. Safe in the warm Chaos energy, she spotted the world below her coming up fast and paled. _OK, Na-Na. Think. Plan. Now!_

Something warmed her back, her eyes widened as she took out the two shards. Two of seven. Seven shards of power. Power liked the Chaos Emeralds. Seven Chaos Emeralds plus a hedgehog with a choker full of Master Emerald flecks equals…

With a devilish grin, she clutched the shards to her chest and closed her eyes. "Here goes nothing…"

At the same time Eggman peered over the ships edge and watched in puzzlement at the glowing orb that was the princess. He narrowed his eyes behind his visor. _"What is this?"_ His thoughts were cut short when the warning alarm rang out over the whole ship. He had enough time to cover his helmet as the window to the Observation Deck blew apart and five coloured comets raced towards the princess. _"No…Impossible…"_

The smaller orbs crossed the darkness of space and joined the mini Sun. For a moment all was still. And then…

_**WHOOSH!**_

The shook-wave from the combined powers sent two of the ships in the small fleet crashing into each other, damaging them beyond repair. Suspended in the darkness of space was Aleena. Her fur was now bubble-gum pink instead of lilac; her hair once ginger was now bottle-blond and waving about in an invisible breeze. Her newly acquired red eyes shone with ancient power and strength. In her hand she held completely restored Anarchy Key in all its silver glory.

Astra Aleena was born.

Holding the Key high above her head, the supercharged princess screamed a vicious war cry and raced towards the remaining ships. The Key glowed with starlight ready for the attack, she grinned showing her new fangs and new found confidence, brought the weapon down in a sharp arch and sliced the nearest ship in half in a fizzing shower of sparks.

The last two ships lumbered slowly into position and retaliated with rockets that bounced off her shield. "You can't stop me!" She cried, bringing the Key close to her body and spinning fiercely. Astra Aleena drilled into the ships' side like a shimmering arrow, weaving her way through its bulk coming out the other end followed by a huge fireball. "I'm unstoppable!"

Eggman had done what Shadow had predicated; the doctor was making his way to the Observation Deck double quick. The metal hand of his robot clawed the broken window seal and he pulled himself up just in time to see the others tapping their bracelets, which hummed in response when activated.

"_Wait! You can't leave me here!"_ He pleaded, waving his smoking hand. _"Help me!"_

Shadow shrugged, "Sorry, doctor. This place is going to Hell; I suggest you get out quick. Goodbye." The group joined hands and vanished in a blue flash.

Eggman whimpered fearfully, managed to pull himself into room and spotted the portal blinking. _"Oh, no…"_

The sidewall crashed open revealing Aleena; the princess looked at him coldly and held up the Key, its rounded end pointing right at him. " Get out."

"_Y-yes, ma'am. R-right away."_ Ejecting from the ruins of his Armour, he made a hasty retreat towards the escape pods little knowing what was waiting for him when he landed.

Aleena took a deep breath, now was the time for bravery. The scene was similar to that which started her adventure. With determined strides, the princess neared the ring at the end of the chamber. Computer terminals exploded, raining lighting down on her, thankfully her shield protected her from serious damage. Gripping the Key with slightly shaky hands, she pointed its tip at the circles' centre and said clearly,

"Chaos Control!"

The Keys' tip glowed with a brilliant light that turned into a thin beam, the beam shot out and hit the centre dead on. The ring opened to expose the blue and gold vortex within. She backed up, "Hold on, daddy. I'm coming." Revving up, she raced at it with all the speed she could muster. As she entered there came a flash, a thunderous boom and then silence.

She was inside.

--

**Inside The Void...**

Sonic led the Protectors of the Multiverse to its heart. He was a speck of deep cobalt in a sea of turquoise. At the base of The Voids Emerald stood Amy, her face a picture of worry.

"Quickly," she said to them all, "everyone to your positions. Form the rings and call to your Emeralds. GO!"

The blue hedgehog watched in awe as the mass of light blue moved past him at lighting speed, quicker than him! One Protector, a girl leopard that he remembered racing at one point, bumped into him. She looked back with sad eyes.

"You are Sonic prime?"

"I am."

She gently touched his arm. "I'm so sorry for your loss, but know this; _we _will never forget you."

Before Sonic could ask what she meant, she disappeared in the sea and he lost her. He stood back and watched as the Protectors made giant circles around the big gem, raised their hands palm side up and started chanting the words Sonic had heard often.

"The servers are the seven chaos. Chaos is power. Power enriched by the heart. The controller serves to unify the chaos..."

From the many portals, the Chaos Emeralds came far and wide to form a glittering floating tower of rainbow colours; red, yellow, pink, green, turquoise and blue ending with a ring of grey gems.

In the distance the sound of a jet engine made them all look up. A resplendent comet of gold screamed its way towards them. It came to a stop and lowered to the ground beside Amy and Sonic, the glowed died away and Aleena smiled at them though a little winded from her journey. The Chaos energy that made her transform had now depleted and she was to her old purple self.

She held out the Key to her father. The Void around them shrieked in agony, a monster of a bloodied crack ripped it apart; the Protectors upped their chanting, the tower of Chaos blared into light. Queen Amy stepped up to Sonic with a sad smile.

"This is it. One stab to the heart and it's all over."

"But I…"

"This is no time for wobbly quills, hedgehog! You must hurry or everyone will be destroyed. Go, now!" She shoved him hard.

Aleena hugged him, "We'll do it together. A father-daughter outing, just like before."

He nodded, "Let's do it to it, ladies."

The two hedgehogs revved up and ran at full speed towards the gemstone of The Void. A path opened up for them as the Protectors chanting became almost deafening. Along the way, Aleena began turning into fine dust, Sonic slowed but she shook her head before turning into a glowing gold ball, just like Ruby had done.

Now alone, the hero of the Multiverse picked up the pace and dived into the heart of The Void. Lost in the green mist, he was clueless, what now? A dim flash caught his eye, he moved forward and found a little figure sprawled on the floor. It was a boy, a little boy hedgehog. He looked closer still, the hedgehog was…_him_.

"_Help…Me…" _He reached out a hand. _"Please…"_ Sonic looked down at the Key, it was glowing like a new star. He bent down and gave himself the weapon. _"Thank you."_ He said softly before rearing up and stabbing the unsuspecting hedgehog. _"I'm sorry." _Everything went white.

The gemstone of The Void shrieked again. The Chaos Emerald rings span one by one, getting faster and faster until they were just blurs of colour. From the depths of The Void, thousands upon thousands of golden balls from the many portals soared into its base shooting up from the towers top like a glimmering fountain. As the beings were sorted and teleported back to their rightful homes, the portals closed with satisfying **clicks**, with each portal saved The Void got back a little of its pink hue. The number of Protector depleted fast along with their powers to seal the portals, with an almighty crack of thunder the inside of the Emerald burned with pure white Chaos energy; a roar like no other rang out. A powerful blinding flash of lighting followed making Amy shield her eyes.

When she lowered her hand, she found she was the only one left. Standing at the base of the giant gemstone, surrounded by The Void back to full pinkness, she waited for Sonic to re-emerge. There was only one thing left to do and she hated herself for what was to come.

The gem glowed softly and a shadow walked out of its base. Sonic looked like in need of a good nights' sleep but apart from that, he was un-harmed. She grinned, trying to hide her true feelings.

"Thank you, Sonic. For such a great deed, you deserve a hero's reward. And for that…" She looked behind him, unable to control herself any more; she threw herself at him in a bone-crushing hug .She sniffed and whispered, "I'm sorry for your loss."

Sonic pushed her away and looked over his shoulder, eyes widening as the Emerald shrieked again and whole area was bathed in green.

A few moments later in the dying glow of the Emerald, Queen Amy sat cross-legged cradling the fallen hedgehog close to her chest. Her tears freely falling onto his face, soaking his cheeks and quills. From above, two big turquoise hands reached down and picked him up with such carefulness odd for a creature his size. For a second she refused him to be taken from her but in the end gave up being too weak to fight anymore.

Amy watched with a broken heart as the last Protector, Chaos himself carried Sonic back home. The final portal closed with an echoing **click**. Now with The Void safe at long last, Amy turned and walked away slowly fading away to join the other souls who walked The Ghost Roads. As she disappeared, she vowed to tell the legend of the _real _Protector of The Void forever more.

The legend of Sonic the Hedgehog.

* * *

**Was that okay?**

**Epilogue right round the corner, just click the arrow there and I'll see you in a mo.**


	10. Epilogue

**Did you know Sonic is 18 years old this year? Happy Birthday for June 23****rd****, Blue!**

* * *

Epilogue 

**Many moons later…**

As everyone expected, and true to form, Eggman busted himself out of jail a few weeks later. The authorities were not worried however, the doctor would slip up sooner or later and they would be ready.

Even now Eggman was sitting at his desk in one of his other secret Bases, **(I don't know where, it's a secret.)** looking at his files, trying to come up with yet another hare-brained scheme to take over the planet. He scrolled down the files, nothing seemed fitting, even if he did come up with a brilliant plan, Sonic would foil it and he'd be back to square one.

"Oh, what's the point?" He mumbled, pinching the bridge of his nose hard. "Why do I bother?"

"_My, my, Eggy…Not giving up already, are you?"_ Soft giggles filled the room, the sound bounced off the walls making it hard for him to pinpoint the intruders' location.

" Who-- What are you?" He asked, his hand slipping under the desk for his spare laser pistol.

"_You forgot me? That breaks my heart, that does."_ The giggles came again, this time coming from somewhere behind him. _"It would, if I had one."_

"So we've met before? I demand you show yourself!"

"_With pleasure, my handsome Doctor."_ A small fireball lit up in the dank shadows, it flew around and was joined by others to create a bigger one. It settled and light footsteps approached. A figure stepped into the firelight; her golden eyes gleamed at the sight of him. _"Hello again, Ivo."_

"You? But you died, I saw it happen…How…?"

The creature flexed her mighty bat-like wings as she moved towards him. The fire orb followed her, back- lighting her slim build and her long hair, giving it a misty, silver shine.

"_So you do remember me. I'm so trilled."_ She frowned. _"Not."_ She sat on the edge of the desk, smoothed down the front of her figure hugging dress and grinned showing rows of fangs. _"A large amount of raw Chaos energy has brought me back from the dead. Now that I'm here, I want revenge and you, my dear Eggy will help me."_

" I will? But you know you can't rust me. Look what happened last time,"

"_I'm well aware of last time, _this_ time will be different because we will have the ultimate weapon." _She purred with delight._"Have you ever heard of the being… Dark Gaia?" _

Eggman snorted,"Didn't work when I tried to use it last time, what makes you think it will obey me a second time?"

_"Think, my darling. What happened when you unleashed it?"_

He thought hard. "Well, the Chaos Emeralds lost their powers, the Earth spilt into seven pieces and Sonic under went a very odd transformation…" He stopped suddenly; slowly a smirk grew on his fat face. " The rodent turned into a beast of pure evil, if I could infect him again and figure out a way to control him some how …" He was already typing on the keypad. " This could work,"

_"Make sure it does, Eggy. I will be back when you're ready."_

He looked up, "You're not staying?"

The woman -- Celosia-- backed away into the shadows once more. "_I need to rest, in the mean time… We'll need a powerful army to battle the Freedom Fighters, I had a look in your files and Project E-NET looks very impressive. Until the time is right…"_ She faded away, giggling and took the fireball with her.

Eggman sat alone in the dankness of his office. **Project E-NET** was one of his first pet projects. He looked it up, scrolled its context, and then sat back with a smile.

**Project E-NET** would do nicely. All he needed were some lab rats, those on the planet below who would not be missed. Namely, the homeless.

--

**Tails' Workshop…**

Uncle Chuck checked the charts, and then checked them again. With a sigh, he adjusted the wires of one of the many monitors surrounding the stasis chamber and looked sadly at its contents.

Sonic was naked and sleeping behind a wall of frozen glass, and had been ever since Chaos had brought him back from The Void via the Master Emerald on the Floating Island. From the start of his coma, his vital signs were normal, the only thing that had changed was he was a deeper shade of blue and white markings had appeared on the tips of his quills and the tops of his wrists.

The elderly hedgehog took off his glasses and wiped his eyes with the back if his hand. Giving Sonic one last look, he picked up another medical file and strolled up to the surface area. Making himself a cup of coffee, Chuck settled into a chair and proceeded to flick through the papers. He had opened the folder when a light breeze ruffled his fur; he looked up over the table and smiled softly.

"Hello, your highness."

Queen Amy sat opposite him in her ghostly form once again, her face covered by her shawl. She nodded, _"Hello, Sir Charles. How is he?"_

"Vital signs are normal, considering what he went through. Care to explain why you did what you did."

--

Flash back…"No! Stop!"

_The Emerald sent out a mast of green misty tentacles that surrounded the hedgehog, most coiled around him holding him in place while two curled his head._

"NO! Please! Don't do it, stop!"

_He wriggled against its mighty strength, but to no avail. The Emerald drew him inside itself and the two arms crashed into his skull, into his mind. Sonic howled and arched upward, tears streaming down his face. He forced his eyes open and looked at her; his memories of their time together were wiped from his mind and they turned glassy._

"Amy…"

_The Emerald gave a flash of light and released him; he fell and was unconscious before he landed safe in her waiting arms._

--

" You wiped his mind?"

Amy held her head in shame and sniffed. _"I'm sorry, Chuck, I really am but it was the only way. He can't remember any of it, most of all me."_

"But why you? That's what I don't get; if Sonic can't know you, does that mean he can't ever know you? He can be a friend to our young Amy, can't he? And in time they can become more, right?" It slowly dawned on him. "Unless…"

She smiled sadly. _" They can't… The balance can't be jeopardised again. There must be a world where Sonic and Amy can never be romantically involved. I'm sorry for his loss, I really am."_

Chuck sighed deeply. "So am I. Go on, then, tell me what happen to my beloved nephew."

She took a deep breath,_" The Anarchy Key draws power from Chaos energy; when Sonic unleashed it, the power wasn't enough to close the portals. As a result he was stripped of his own Chaos powers to compensate, when the mind wipe happened it was too much for him to take and he slipped into the coma. It… might be permanent."_

"_Permanent_?" He rubbed his chin," That's very bad if Robotnik tries something." He sighed deeply. "We just have to hope he'll pull through. Now I have one question for you…what about me? I came here via The Void--I _do_ like the sound of that--and I'm still here, why didn't I get sent home?"

" _You are needed here, Sir Charles and don't worry. The version of Sonic from Knothole knows you're safe," _She frowned slightly._ " For some reason he's putting a lot of trust in his gut. Is this a guy thing?"_

Chuck let out a bark like laugh, "That's my boy! Always thinking with his stomach. If you say I'm needed here, then I'll stay."

She smiled. _"Thank you, Uncle Chuck. We souls walking The Ghost Roads sense something is coming to this realm, something big and shining and new. An army is rising to brave the on coming storm."_

"So Eggman's building another army, we've beaten him before and we'll do it again."

Queen Amy flickered, _"Not an army like this. If Sonic hasn't recovered in time the combined forces of G.U.N and the Freedom Fighters won't be enough, you'll need help." _Her smile reached her eyes, making them sparkle in the light. She hummed softly._" Expert help, which is why I've sent an SOS. Even as we speak he's riding the Time Winds in his marvellous--if oddly box shaped-- ship to get here."_ She flickered, her time almost up. _" I have to go."_

He raised a grey brow. " Wait! This _expert_, does he have a name?"

Before Amy faded completely, she whispered two words to him. Just two, and for some unknown reason, those two words gave Chuck a small sense of hope.

Those words were…

_"The Doctor."_

* * *

**Fin.**

**Okay that's your lot! **

**Celosia (from **Saving a Rainbow**…) has come back from the dead and that's not good. **

**Could Were- Sonic be making a comeback? And who is this Doctor?**

**I'm gearing myself up for my first ever crossover! Keep your eyes pealed for it later in the year.**

**Catch you later! Mazz84 XX.**


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